GPT-5.5 Instant
The fast, default ChatGPT model tuned for low-latency responses
Context window
1050000
Input / 1M tokens
5.00
Output / 1M tokens
30.00
Provider
OpenAI
Pricing reported at $5 input / $30 output per 1M by third-party tracker (llm-stats.com); official API pricing not yet published as API access was listed as 'coming soon' at launch. Treat pricing as unconfirmed until listed on the OpenAI pricing page. · Data verified 2026-07-03
GPT-5.5 Instant is OpenAI's latest 'Instant' tier and the default model in ChatGPT, released May 5, 2026. It is optimized for speed and everyday interactive use rather than maximum reasoning depth. It is multimodal (text and image input), has a 400,000-token context window with up to 128,000 output tokens, and a knowledge cutoff of August 2025. At launch it was available in ChatGPT with API access listed as coming soon, so its API model id and official API pricing are not yet confirmed.
Capability index
Relative estimates (0-100) to place this model against its peers, grounded in published benchmarks.
How to access it
Released May 5, 2026 as the default ChatGPT model (the fast 'Instant' tier). API access was announced as 'coming soon' at launch, so the API model id is unconfirmed; 'gpt-5.5-instant' is an inferred placeholder. Use via ChatGPT today.
Strengths
- ✓Low-latency, snappy responses for interactive and chat use
- ✓Multimodal text + image input
- ✓Large 400K-token context window for the fast tier
- ✓Sensible default for everyday ChatGPT tasks
Best for developers who...
When to choose it (and when not to)
Reach for GPT-5.5 Instant when...
- →Interactive chat and everyday assistant tasks where responsiveness matters most
- →High-volume, latency-sensitive workloads that do not need deep reasoning
- →General questions, drafting, and summarization at speed
Look elsewhere if...
- ✕Hard reasoning, math, or complex agentic coding (use full GPT-5.5 or GPT-5.6 Sol)
- ✕Production API integrations today (API access was 'coming soon' at launch)
- ✕Anything requiring confirmed, published API pricing and a stable model id
How to use it
- ›Keep prompts concise and direct - Instant is tuned for quick turnaround, not extended deliberation
- ›For multi-step reasoning or long agentic tasks, switch to the full GPT-5.5 model
- ›Provide needed context inline since it favors fast single-pass answers
Quickstart
Pythonfrom openai import OpenAI
client = OpenAI()
response = client.responses.create(
model="gpt-5.5-instant",
input="Give me a quick 3-bullet summary of this article.",
)
print(response.output_text)Model id 'gpt-5.5-instant' is inferred; API access was 'coming soon' at launch. Confirm the id and pricing in OpenAI docs before production use. Available in ChatGPT today.
API model id: gpt-5.5
Benchmarks
| Benchmark | Score | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| AIME 2025 | 81.2 | GPT-5.5 Instant internal evaluation |
| Terminal-Bench 2.0 | 82.7 | OpenAI reported benchmark |
| FrontierMath Tier 1–3 | 51.7 | OpenAI reported benchmark |